Moving Case Mgmt from the Provider to MRA

SB 1 Sect. 48 moved HCS case management to Mental Retardation Authorities (MRA).
Currently, DADS does not plan on phasing in this shift, instead, DADS intends to ochestrate a mass move in June of 2010. DADS will hold a training for MRAs and providers in the spring before the change.
The MRA will conduct enrollment [...]

Mental Health Parity Act Effective Date Delayed Until January 2010

New requirements for employee health care plans originally scheduled to go into effect next month now have been delayed for at least a few more months. Congress has deferred the effective date of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPA) until January 2010. The MHPA does not require health insurance plans to provide [...]

New FMLA Standards Applicable: Some Employees May Be Entitled to Up To 26 Unpaid Weeks Leave

On January 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law new FMLA leave entitlements for military families (“military family leave provisions”). The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 amended the FMLA to provide two new types of unpaid military family leave for FMLA-eligible employees: “qualifying exigency leave” and “military caregiver leave.” Both types [...]

HCS & TxHML Providers–access to Child Abuse & Neglect Reporting System (Screen employees)

DADS is making Client Abuse and Neglect Reporting System (CANRS) available to HCS and TxHmL providers to allow providers to conduct pre-employment screenings of employees in order to find confirmed allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation while employed at State Schools, State Hospitals, and State Centers.” The provider letter gives instructions on how such [...]

What’s in a Rule?

Earlier this year, the Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion outlining the definition of a “rule.” El Paso Hospital Dist. v. HHSC, 247 S.W.2d 709 (Tex. 2008). The Court stated, “a presumption favors adopting rules… through the formal rule-making procedures.” This case supports the premise that agency action may be invalidated if it isn’t backed [...]

Introducing GINA New Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008

President Bush is expected to sign into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) passed last week by Congress. The new law, which has been debated in Congress for 13 years, adds to current federal anti-discrimination laws (including Title VII) prohibitions on employers and insurance companies using genetic tests showing people are at risk [...]

“Alert: New Form I-9 Effective Immediately”

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), which enforces federal employment verification requirements, has issued the first updated Form I-9 since 1991. Devised to help employers verify that every new employee is either a U.S. citizen or authorized to work in the U.S., the law requires that the new Form I-9 be used for all [...]

New EEO-1 Forms and Regulations – September 30th Deadline

The Employer Information Report, commonly known as the EEO-1 Report, has finally gotten a major makeover that affects what information you must collect about your employees and how you collect it. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) revised the form in response to additions made to racial and ethnic categories collected for the 2000 census [...]

Pay for Travel Time Under the FLSA comin’-and-goin’

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for non-exempt employees. (Non-exempt employees are those who are (a) not paid on a salary basis, and/or (b) not employed in an executive, administrative, professional or outside sales capacity.) The FLSA requires employers to pay non-exempt employees the minimum wage [...]

U.S. Supreme Court to Address Companionship Exemption Under FLSA

In mid-2004, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit became the first federal appellate court holding that the companionship services exemption under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) could not be used by home health agencies to avoid paying its home care attendants minimum wage and overtime pay. (Coke v Long [...]

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